


And Seekers Do Seek

by TheHappyRabbit



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Courtship, Embarrassment, Funny, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Seeker Trines, Transformer Sparklings, embarrassed Soundwave, mischievous cassettes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-05-08 19:04:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5509562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHappyRabbit/pseuds/TheHappyRabbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soundwave ignores the rather hyped up Seekers until he is cornered and a rather unexpected request is made, a request which a negative response is not accepted. Taken from TFanonkink</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I was snooping around the web and found this request on tfanonkink.
> 
> The Seekers are behaving strangely, to the point where everyone on board Nemesis is getting mildly weirded out. Except Soundwave. He's just keeping his mind on his work, waiting for the Insanity of the Week to be over with.
> 
> Until one day Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp corner him, and lay it down in plainest possible terms: They want babies. Namely, SOUNDWAVE'S babies. The other trines are also on the prowl for a mech to grace them all with sparklings, but the lead trine gets dibs. And it just so happens that the Decepticon TIC is quite a catch: intelligent, loyal, strong, and most of all, a capable caretaker. They might even want to keep him. Not just until the sparklings are old enough to care for themselves, but permanently.
> 
> At this point Soundwave's infamous cool finally fails, and he makes his escape (feat in itself). But over the next few days he finds himself pitting all his intelligence and stealth against three doggedly stubborn seekers, who will resort to anything from plain old fashioned flirting to drugging him and chaining him to a berth so he won't get away before they can convince him to stay.
> 
> For once in his function, he is doomed to fail.
> 
> I have to do it! I have to!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to RevyCaitEll for beta reading!  
> Title: And Seekers Do Seek  
> Chapter: Prologue  
> Verse: G1  
> Summary: Soundwave ignores the rather hyped up Seekers until he is cornered and a rather unexpected request is made, a request which a negative response is not accepted. Taken from TFanonkink  
> Warnings: Really? You guys knew what you were getting into!  
> Chapter Word Count: 1,252  
> Total Word Count: 1,252
> 
> Edited 23/05/2016

Things had been a little... insane lately, Soundwave though privately to himself as he watched the Conehead Trine screech- and it was screeching- at each other. Not only could he not understand what they were saying but he couldn't understand what it was over. Waves of anger, annoyance, denial and so many other things rolled from each of them as they bickered.

Ramjet had been closest to him and had seemed to be completely focused on his work when he had just burst from his seat, engine growling loudly as he hissed. His Trine, sharing the monitor duty, had imitated him in perfect harmony.

Ravage sat on his hunches by his peds, watching the screeching with something close to awe.

:Wow,: he transmitted. :Why did Megatron include Seekers in his army again?:

Soundwave shook his helm. :Ravage: ignore Seeker antics:

Ravage turned disbelieving optics to him. :And _how_ exactly am I supposed to do that?:

Soundwave had to agree with him. He toned down his audios when a particularly high pitch sequel caused his sensitive systems to buzz. :Operation: abandon command centre:

Ravage was only too quick to comply. Soundwave was not long after him, he could easily do his work in his quiet, soundproof quarters.

XXX The next time the Seekers started playing up, Soundwave had no escape.

The battle had been a spectacular fail. Of course, Megatron had blamed his tri-coloured, loud-mouth Second. Soundwave had not witnessed the "Totally awesome, best ever ass whooping, that Screamer couldn't possibly forget!" (as supplied by his hyperactive twin cassettes) disciplining. He sure knew the outcome.

Starscream was staring at him.

Not his usual "I am greater than you" stare, or his "you will die... somehow" stare, and nor was it his "If you say anything and I will kill you!" stare. In fact, it wasn't any stare Soundwave had ever seen on the charcoal faceplates of his (only for convenience) superior. That, Soundwave had been able to handle.

The fact that he himself had been injured, (a lucky shot) and was stuck in the medbay, unless he dragged himself to his quarters with his arms, meant that he could not escape the burrowing, inquisitive stare... He had just stared back, optics actually looking around the room, watching as the Constructicons went about their normal business, Hook complaining about Megatron ruining such a wonderful frame, and ignored Starscream all together.

That ended when his Trine came.

They whispered urgently first, harsh sounds, with Starscream pouting and Skywarp losing focus and and talking loudly about something that they obviously were not talking about. 

Thundercracker seemed really focused, staring straight into Starscream's optics. When Skywarp whistled was when everything went to pit. Thundercracker spun and tried to launch himself in seemingly a random direction that brought him very close to Soundwave's berth as Starscream squawked and grabbed him. Skywarp snickered, then squealed in horror then growled in annoyance before launching himself after his blue counterpart.

The Constructicons had stopped their work to stare at the twisting, screeching pile of Seekers. Soundwave offlined his optics and his audios. When he woke up later they were long gone. The Constructicons, however, looked like they had been scarred for life. He didn't use his telepathy, he saw no need.

"You lucky bastard!" Hook had complained as he was released from the medbay, legs working better than they had in a long time. He never asked about what had transpired.

XXX Megatron went from cursing Starscream to Starscream's Trine to Optimus to Starscream to Primes in general, back to Starscream and then settled on Seekers. Soundwave stood by and listened to every word. Of course, he didn't bother to remember what Megatron was saying, but he nodded along, answered when spoken to and gave solutions to some of the problems.

Problems... Soundwave couldn't understand really what had Megatron so worked up, and it wasn't just Megatron. The whole base was on it's toes. Mechs were skittish, getting ill more often and during shifts that always coincided with a Seekers. The Seekers themselves were given wide births. If they noticed, they didn't complain. Soundwave paid them no attention however, finding their behaviour to be childish and attention seeking so he was rather shocked when he found that Megatron was getting worked up over it.

"I really don't get it. Normally a beating puts him in his place and sorts out any unusual behaviour but he just bounces straight back! He has to be planning something! He has to be! And he has all the Seekers behind him this time!"

Soundwave zoned out and went on with his work as the frenzied rant continued.

XXX The navy blue mech knelt down in order to get a better look at the sparking equipment. Earth rodents had infiltrated the ship once more and were reeking havoc. The lucky thing was, when they chewed the large wires they more often than not fried themselves if that wire was live so as soon as the infestation started, it was over. Soundwave was left to clean up the mess. All his Cassettes were out, searching for damaged wires and repairing what they could while Ravage hunted down the more resilient rodents and disposed of them. With his arms deep in the ships internals and concentration locked, he did not hear the approaching footsteps.

One of the more annoying things about Earth rodents was that they tended to go to areas of the ship that were hardly used, that meant way down in the engine rooms and storerooms that had nearly been forgotten. Soundwave hadn't expected company, nobody bother to go down that far anymore.

The sound of the door hissing shut and clicking locked made him freeze. He swept out with his telepathy and felt three others, thoughts racing at random. It could have only been Seekers.  
He turned and stood in one fluent motion. Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker stood between him and the locked door, optics focused on him, burning with a strange emotion he couldn't identify.

"Soundwave," Starscream greeted.

"Query: what is your purpose here?"

Skywarp's wings fluttered and Thundercracker shivered. Soundwave cursed them. Were they infected with something? He was on a tight schedule and needed to get his work done. He didn't have time for their games!

"Purpose?" Starscream mused, "I suppose one could say that."

"Repeat: what is your purpose here?"

Starscream nodded, as if to himself. "Soundwave, have you noticed anything strange lately? Surely you are not blind." At the jab, his Trine mates fixed their glaring stares on their leader. He brushed it off with a small wave of his servo.

"Observations made: Seekers are childish."

All three of them opened their mouths to protest but Thundercracker was the only one who was coherent.

"Its not our fault! We can't control our own programming!"

There was silence after that statement. Soundwave knew then that they were having a private conversation by their rapidly changing expressions.

"Query: why not go to Hook?"

That seemed to pause them in their tracks, Starscream stared at him deadpan, then, sighing dramatically, he stepped forward.

"Soundwave, I will make this as simple as possible. We are Seekers. Seekers suffer from Heat cycles. We are in Heat now. We want babies. To be more specific, we want your babies."

Soundwave tried several times to override his logic centers, telling them that it was perfectly logical that Starscream would choose him to mate with, however, he had no evidence as to why and so darkness consumed him.


	2. It Starts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: And Seekers Do Seek  
> Chapter 1: It Starts  
> Verse: G1  
> Summary: Soundwave ignores the rather hyped up Seekers until he is cornered and a rather unexpected request is made, a request which a negative response is not accepted. Taken from TFanonkink  
> Warnings: Really? You guys knew what you were getting into!  
> Chapter Word Count: 2,375  
> Total Word Count: 3,627
> 
> Edited 23/05/2016

His helm pounded.

He was pretty sure that his helm pulsed with each painful pounding. Groaning, he reached up with his hand to rub at his face. He rubbed the area between his optics, wondering what had caused such terrible pain. He let his servo trail down his face, over his nasal ridge and his lips and his-

His optics flickered online. He was staring at the ceiling, normal reports showing in his vision. He could feel his systems freezing in shock as he felt a slight breeze caress his face, his bare face.

"I told you we should have left it on!"

Soundwave groaned at the loud voice, then remembered that he had no face mask or visor and tried to figure out what was going on.

"Oh come on, don't spoil the fun. I want to know what our future sparklings will look like!"

Oh yeah... that's why...

Soundwave leapt to his feet, bringing his arms in front of him. The Seekers were caught by surprise and fell back. They had been far too close.

"No! Absolutely not!" He snarled as he backed into the corner.

The Seekers looked up at him from the floor. Skywarp looked genuinely upset, lower lip quivering. Thundercracker looked insulted and Starscream looked outraged.

"What? How could you not want-"

"My mask, my visor, right now!" He growled before Starscream could get a word in, trying to sound commanding but there was a quiver in his voice that he was sure Starscream caught.

The lead Seeker stood up and moved away from his Trine who stayed on the floor. He crossed his sky blue arms over his red chassies and simply said, "No."

Soundwave frowned. "I said-"

"I know what you said, and I have replied with no. Deal with it!" Starscream hissed, looking both angry and hurt. "I don't want this either Soundwave!"

His Trine hissed in anger but made no moves against him and only further increased Soundwave's confusion.

"Why me then?"

"Why?" Starscream repeated. "Because, you have all the qualities we seek in potential mates; loyal, intelligent, strong, brave. You have also proven that you are capable of looking after sparklings. You look after your cassettes like a sire. You know what you are doing."

"Cassettes and sparklings are totally differant things." Soundwave argued, trying to figure out where they had hidden his mask and visor.

Starscream snorted. "Soundwave, think about it, who else bothers to look after anyone else on this blasted ship?" Soundwave opened his mouth to list off names... only to gape like a fish out of water. "I thought so... The Autobots don't count!"

"Oh," Skywarp exclaimed. "Imagine Optimus Prime!"

Thundercracker choked. "Skywarp! Shut up!"

"Or the Twins!" He yelled in horror, Starscream slapped himself in the face.

For once Soundwave was able to see clearly what the Seekers were thinking in very fine detail as well as feelings of both excited lust and utter disgust. He wanted bleach. A very powerful bleach.

Momentarily distracted- and disturbed for the foreseeable future- Soundwave didn't notice Skywarp's approach until it was too late.

A dark helm rested on his shoulder as a servo drifted teasingly across his chest as Skywarp purred. Soundwave jumped away in fright.

"Enough!" He shouted before Skywarp came too close again. "Stay away from me!"

The young Seeker pouted. "But Sounders, I really want to be close to you..."

Soundwave was at a loss for words. He stuttered over multiply sounds before collecting himself and standing tall. "No! You will have to find some one else!"

He marched up to the door, noting that they were still down in the storage rooms, and heard it click as it unlocked. It slid aside and he marched out. Three burning gazes followed him.

XXX

He sighed as he finally reached his quarters. No one had seen him without his mask, thank Primus, and the Seekers hadn't followed him. He quickly peeked around the door just before it closed to be on the safe side. All clear.

He relaxed against the door. Maybe now things would return to normal... well, as normal as they could. Starscream wanted to spark with him was just too strange a notion. Although, Starscream didn't seem so content with the idea either. He wondered, just how much control did the Seekers have over their choices? He would have to do some research.

He wondered for a moment, allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to have a child of his own? Or would it be children? What would they be like? He couldn't help but admit that Starscream and his Trine were some of the best looking on the Decepticon side... well, no, on both sides really. No body could match their fluid grace and agility and their contrasting, striking colours were an eye catcher. Although, Starscream by far bypassed his Trine mates in beauty; his face, his curves and those elegant wings and his unconscious swagger...

Which brought him back to why him? Him; dull, boring Soundwave? Skywarp and Thundercracker he knew never minded his presence, often having the odd conversation. Starscream though... that was just _scary!_

There was a clicking noise that sounded similar to a door unlocking...

Soundwave grunted as the door slid away and his support disappeared. He felt a gush of wind across his back and sides before the hard clank that signalled the end of his unexpected decent.

Oh no...

Soundwave bolted to his peds and stood in a defensive position expecting three lusting Seekers to be there cackling evilly as they rubbed their servos together in glee and the thought of "dinner time!" floating through their minds.

There were three beings... but they were not lusting Seekers rubbing their servos together in glee and cackling while thinking about devouring him. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Rumble, Frenzy and Ravage stared up at him in confusion. The silence seemed to hold its breath...

Frenzy cracked first, doubling over and howling with uncontrolled laughter. His Twin imitated him, slapping Soundwave's ped. Ravage rolled around on the floor at their feet.

Soundwave frowned. It wasn't _that_ funny!

"Haha! Someone tells him to frag them till they spark and he cracks up!"

Okay, that made it alot more... well no it didn't. It was not funny!

Soundwave stomped past them back into his quarters. When they didn't follow- well no actually, they did try but couldn't quite focus on putting one ped in front of the other in an organised fashion- he closed the door.

Damn it! He could still hear them!

He offlined his audios and lay on his berth.

XXX

He really didn't know how they knew, but they did, and it did not bode well for him. Ravage kept purring on about how cute they would be while Laserbeak actively searched for the Seekers and gave updates to the twins who in turn tried to lead Soundwave straight into them.

Why did they do this to him?

Surely Megatron would be a better- well, maybe not, with his violent tendencies and all... Yeah, no... Megatron would certainty not be a wise choice...

Was there anyone else? He went through everyone in his processor. After the first ten he gave up. Motormaster was just too scary a thought to even think about continuing with that plan...

Why couldn't they frag each other? Two Trines, six Seekers, three pairs! It was perfect!

It was at that moment Ramjet came barging into the control room. He made a bee line for Soundwave.

The navy blue mech crossed his legs and grit his jaw. Oh dear...

"Soundwave!" Ramjet hissed. "Go and frag them!"

There was no way in pit he was even going to consider fragging Ram- wait, what?

"You, Soundwave, will sire sparklings either from Starscream's Trine or mine!"

And just like that he was gone. Thank Primus he was on night shift!

XXX

A week and nothing happened.

It almost scared him more then if something actually happened. Starscream ignored him, Skywarp would scowl at him and he never really saw Thundercracker unless through a monitor.

Maybe they had moved on...

His Cassettes were highly disappointed. They had expected Soundwave to be assaulted from every side till he got in there and done the deed. He began to relax, aware that they could be trying to lull him into a false sense of security. Still nothing happened.

A day turned into a week and a week turned into months. He was pretty sure that they had forgotten and settled back into his routines.

XXX

Stepping out into the corridor, Soundwave froze mid-step as he spied the shiny object out of the corner of his vision. He turned his helm round, sensors spreading out in search of another. No one. He scanned the object. Not explosive, not infected with anything... He moved closer, getting a closer look when Rumble came out, optics widening in surprise before his face split in a grin.

"'Bout time," He muttered and strode over to the unknown object. He looked up at Soundwave then back to the object. "Well?"

"Query: well what?"

Rumble raised an optic ridge. "Aren't you going to check it out?"

"Suspicion: Rumble must tell what he knows."

Rumble frowned. "Soundwave, I can guarantee that it won't do anything to harm ya, in fact, I would say quite the opposite."

Curiosity won and Soundwave stepped forward to retrieve the object. Rumble would never put him in danger.

He twirled it around for a minute. Which way was supposed to be up?

It was a round object with some sort of button placed randomly upon the golden, polished surface. He could hear Rumble snigger and ignored him. He twirled it again and decided to press the button.

The outer panels split apart and pushed away from the core, a beautiful and warm light spilling out and then he realised what it was.

He had not seen one in ages and already his desire to hide and protect such a precious relic was so overwhelming he nearly felt his fans stall. Who left this here? Who could leave this here? The specially crafted replicas of Cybertron were rare and so famous that they had passed through so many hands simply because of theft. He had always wanted one, ever since he was a sparkl-

Oh...Ooohhhh.

Well, maybe the fact that it had just been _left_ outside _his_ door was not such a coincidence...

XXX

Dear Primus why didn't he just frag them... oh yeah, he had his dignity, they were at war and it was Starscream. Where the frag was he supposed to put all this stuff?

His Cassettes watched him as he stored away another randomly just left-outside-his-door object. He opened the storage room door and flinched as an avalanche of objects tumbled out. Right, he forgot about that... again. He needed new storage... He would have just thrown everything away if it weren't for the fact that he had wanted all of it, had desired to have it. Only Primus knew how the Seekers knew... He sent an accusing gaze at his Cassettes in the corner who blatantly ignored him.

After tiding everything away... again, he headed for his shift in the control room. Thoughts racing around and focussing on certain some ones he didn't realise that he was no longer alone.

He froze when he felt arms wrap around each of his own. Two set of optics stared up at him in a way that could only be described as cute and he nearly melted into the big wide optics. He frowned and them pulled his arms out of Thundercracker's and Skywarp's grip. Skywarp pouted and just succeeded in looking cuter. Thundercracker looked wounded and gave a little kick at the wall as if he had just been disciplined by a creator. That too looked horribly cute...

Oh Primus, don't let them try the cute treatment!

Obviously Primus was laughing at him.

Skywarp made his way back over to him, young face glowing in hope.

"Pwease?"

Soundwave nearly cried and with so much restraint pushed the young Seeker away. "No."

Skywarp's lower lip bulged. "We though you would like all the gifts... You didn't like them?"

Soundwave frowned, relieved that he had made those spare masks when he had. "Gifts: appreciated. Attentions: not."

Thundercracker grumbled and glared at him. "Do you realize how many beatings Starscream took for you to get those?"

He had noticed an increase in beatings... but that just didn't compute... Starscream hated him!

"We won't give up, Soundwave." Thundercracker said in such a low tone that it could have been a whisper. "We have made up our minds, you're ours."

They left him, stunned and never more afraid, there was nothing worse then determined Seekers...

He never had such an overwhelming urge to just cry "mama" before now... in fact-

"Mama?"


	3. No Control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title: And Seekers Do Seek  
> Chapter 2: No Control  
> Verse: G1  
> Summary: Soundwave ignores the rather hyped up Seekers until he is cornered and a rather unexpected request is made, a request which a negative response is not accepted. Taken from TFanonkink  
> Warnings: Really? You guys knew what you were getting into!  
> Chapter Word Count:1,240  
> Total Word Count: 4,867
> 
> Edited 23/05/2016

And then it all went to pit.

The gifts stopped, but he would have preferred if they hadn't.

Instead things had got a lot more… personal.

He would be in the wash rack when suddenly three sets of servos would appear, pin him down and scrub him clean. Three sets of burning red optics daring him to fight back.

He had never been so shiny and clean in his life. joints worked without a bit of protest and his plates settled so comfortably against his protoform that he began to not curse the blasted seekers as much.

Energon was brought to him every morning by a very stern Thundercracker who religiously kept bringing him his rations, even when he was on shift.

Skywarp would help him with inventory counts in the storage sections. Warping boxes and equipment to and fro efficiently cutting down the time spent by well over half.

Starscream, however, apart from the wash racks, would only interact with him as little as he possibly could on a one to one basis.

He would often find himself the victim of an intense gaze filled with hate and lust and… fear?

Starscream was afraid?

Afraid of what?

Unfortunately the seeker's thoughts were never left exposed and when Soundwave was caught staring back he received a sneer in response.

Apart from all that, nothing bothered the blue mech too much, that was until one morning, he found himself tied to a berth that was not his own.

Fingers traced seems and gust of air teased over his plating.

"What the frag!" He yelled, facemask and visor once again removed.

He heard the childish giggle of Skywarp. "Hey Soundie!"

Soundwave lifted his helm and looked down at the pale faceplate staring up at him from near his groin.

"No! Skywarp! Stop right now!"

There was a sigh from his left. "Told you he wouldn't react well." The calm voice of the blue seeker was heavy with tiredness. he stood against the wall, arms crossed over chassis and optics dull.

"Pfft!" scoffed a voice to his right. "Soundwave doesn't react to anything well." Starscream was curled up in a chair beside the berth, data pad in servo and optics glued to it. "Unless of course it was Megatron who had him tied to the berth instead." A cruel smirk turned his way, optics glittering in challenge.

Soundwave frown back at him. "Not a chance."

Starscream made a face. "Oh really? Are you saying that if Megatron was there instead of Warp you would say _no?"_

Soundwave growled. "Of course! I am not a mech to get into such foolish relations with my superiors!"

The statement was just as much against Starscream as it was Megatron and the seeker hissed in warning.

"Who said anything about a relationship, Soundwave? Not me that's for sure!" Starscream got to his peds and stood over him. "You think I fancy your little aft? That I want you all to myself because you are just that desirable? You think that all of this is to make you have some sort of attachment to me?" The seeker cackled, throwing his helm back. And then quite suddenly stopped, optics blazing. He flung the datapad against a wall, furious. " I _despise_ you! I want you dead at my feet. Just because my _programming_ has decided that you are the best candidate for a sire does not mean I hold anything but contempt for you."

He stormed out, leaving three stunned mechs in his wake.

Skywarp looked visibly upset and undid Soundwave's binds without a word.

He rubbed his wrists and accepted his mask and visor as Thundercracker held them out to him without a word.

As he was leaving through the same door Starscream had he turned on his peds.

"You guys really have no control over it?"

The two seekers looked up at him. "No," Thundercracker answer. "We really don't."

XxXxX

Starscream howled in pain as Megatron smashed a wing in his servos and Soundwave felt himself wincing, at the sound or Starscream's obvious agony he wasn't sure anymore.

Megatron lifted the seeker off the floor by his throat.

"I have had enough!" He roared, slamming a fist into the seeker's faceplate.

The winged body went limp, dangling from Megatron's hand and suddenly, the seeker looked so fragile.

The warlord released his grip, letting the smaller mech fall in a heap. "Get that pile of scrap out of here." He ordered to anyone who listened as he turned his back and walked away.

Soundwave stood frozen to the spot as mechs moved to carry out those orders. His processor felt numb, his spark frozen in shock.

A gentle nudge on his leg had him looking down.

Ravage was at his peds, optics wide with worry and fear... and relief.

It should have been _him_ going to the medbay.

He had made that terrible error. He had caused that serious malfunction. Half the Nemesis was flooded because he had got distracted by a certain tr-coloured mech who was blatantly ignoring him.

So why was he still standing and Starscream was out cold?

It had all happened so fast. Megatron growling in his faceplate and suddenly not. Starscream screeching obscenities at the large grey mech and waving his arm cannons around.

A servo squeezed his shoulder.

Thundercracker was there, optics reflecting the pain he must have felt through the trine bond. He gave a small nod and moved away, following after his injured Trine leader.

XxXxX

Starscream became insufferable after that. Throwing the nastiest comments he could towards the blue mech and his symboits.

The twins were having a hard time keeping up their game of trying to get Soundwave to do the deed as more vicious insults were fired their way. Ravage brushed every word off as smoothly as he moved from shadow to shadow and always sending Soundwave a very knowing glance.

What exactly did the feline know? Soundwave couldn't figure it out.

XxXxX

To wake up tied once again to a berth was somewhat a shock after the last time. He sighed.

"Not again."

Skywarp appeared above him with a wide smile. "I just want to show my appreciation of you!"

Soundwave frowned and had a quick glance around. He was in his own quarters and it was only himself, Skywarp and Thundercracker. "Does Starscream know about this?"

Thundercracker nodded. "Yes. He does." That was all he was going to get it would seem.

He then received the best massage of his life time from two highly skilled sets of servos.

Of course, he was then late for his shift.

XxXxX

Skywarp became his shadow.

Everywhere he went the purple mech was sure to be there.

The seeker was always smiling, wings fanned out proudly as if trying to say. "Yep, he's mine!"

Unfortunately, it meant that half the Nemesis began to notice that something was most certainly up. And if the entire crew had coped on, then it wouldn't take long for a certain warlord to.

He tried to ignore the curious looks of the more uneducated mechs, but some _knew._ Their knowing smirks sometimes twisting into jealousy as a seeker wing flicked in Soundwave's direction.

This was too much attention focused solely on him! How did Starscream cope? Did Starscream really enjoy being the focus of everyone's attention?

Soundwave shivered as he reached his quarters. He wasn't sure how long he could take this anymore.


	4. To The Wolves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to RevyCaitEll for beta reading!  
> Title: And Seekers Do Seek  
> Chapter 3: To The Wolves  
> Verse: G1  
> Summary: Soundwave ignores the rather hyped up Seekers until he is cornered and a rather unexpected request is made, a request which a negative response is not accepted. Taken from TFanonkink  
> Warnings: Really? You guys knew what you were getting into!  
> Chapter Word Count:1,591  
> Total Word Count: 6,458
> 
> Edited 23/05/2016

He laughed.

He sat in his mighty throne, and laughed.

Soundwave had never felt so demoralised.

“They want you to what?” Megatron gasped out, slumped in his throne, smirk wide enough to split his face plate in two.

Soundwave looked down at the floor. “To sire sparklings.”

That led to an even louder bout of laughter.

Megatron, the paranoid mech that he was, especially when it came to a certain Seeker, had finally cornered Soundwave and demanded an explanation. 

So Soundwave told him.

“You!” Megatron roared in disbelief. “They want you to sire sparklings?” And it had gone down hill from there.

Soundwave took the humiliating abuse like the loyal soldier he was.

XxXxX

If he had of known Megatron was an evil pile of scrap, well, an evil pile of scrap in regards to himself, then he would never have told the warlord anything.

Starscream glared from across the top of the monitor at him, clearly not doing any work.

Soundwave had tried to focus on his own work, but that _stare_. It stripped him right down to his spare parts.

He really wanted to kill Megatron. 

He felt no shame in thinking such thoughts either. Stupid warlord and his stupid sense of humour. He had totally fixed the night shift rota. Him and Starscream. Alone. At night. 

Alone.

Oh Primus kill him now! Starscream looked ready to devour him!

“You told Megatron.” There! See! He knew it! Starscream was totally going to…. wait… what?

Soundwave gulped. “Affirmative.”

An optic ridge shot up. “Seriously?”

Soundwave nodded.

A smile, an actual smile broke free across dark faceplates. He almost looked…. beautiful…

“ _Megatron_ has thrown _you_ to the wolves?”

Oh, Starscream was still an aft.

XxXxX

The battle raged on.

Explosions, debris flying everywhere, shouts and grunts and the clank of contact between two metal bodies. The hiss and spew of laser and rifle fire, the crack and snap of an actual fire.

The Auotobts were suddenly vicious in their counterattack.

Pinned behind cover Soundwave could only observe and direct from what he saw through Laserbeak’s optics. Megatron was roaring orders through the com. link as Soundwave uploaded the data. His symboits were sending him information an Autobot positions. 

He was nearly overwhelmed with the information going through his processor. 

And there was one voice absent from the com. 

Starscream was suspiciously quiet.

If Megatron noticed, he didn’t have time to address it. 

And neither did Soundwave, besides, the seekers were trying to do their jobs. And Starscream was clearly visible doing strafing runs against the Autobot front lines. Maybe the tri coloured mech had grasped the severity of the situation.

Searing pain exploded in his left shoulder. Metal went flying as a lucky shot tore through his plating. 

He fell forward, clutching his injured and useless limb. 

Scrap!

Ravage cursed across their link but the tape deck ordered him to continue with his job.

“Well now. Looky ‘ere.”

Soundwave felt his tank drop.

Ironhide had a large gun barrel in his faceplates.

Ironhide didn’t waste time with useless small talk and swung the but of his gun into Soundwave’s head. The blue mech stumbled, vision full of static. 

He felt strong unyielding servos bring his wrists together, jarring his wounded shoulder and causing pain to flare across his sensornet. He was pinned onto his front, a ped placed firmly on his back.

How did he let the red warrior get so close? Ironhide wasn’t known for his stealth!

Then a howl of rage. Pure rage. It actually terrified the tape deck.

And the weight was gone with a gush of boiling air. The sounds of two mechs sparring reached his audios. His vision was still blurry, but he could just make out the red grounder and the tri coloured frame of his combatant.

White. Red. Blue.

Oh Primus no! Anyone but _him!._

Starscream howled with rage, hissing and spitting curses at the Autobot with such venom that even his insults to Megatron seemed like nothing more than a casual comment.

As his vision cleared he got to witness one of the most terrifyingly beautiful scenes of his whole existence.

Starscream moved like he had no restrictions, not even gravity could tame the seeker. He swirled, flipped and spun. The red Autobot could only grunt as every hit landed with painful accuracy.

The red warrior went down on one knee, arms raised to protect his face as Starscream got a claw hooked into an optic, shattering the glass.

Ironhide growled, tried to swing an arm out, only for it to be caught and used as a lever to snap the shoulder joint. Gears ground against each other as wires sizzled and sparked and the warrior finally let out a scream of pain.

Starscream's fiery optics fell upon him, upon his injured shoulder and cuffed arms. 

There was a snap and suddenly there were two frames either side of him, undoing the cuffs. He never broke eye contact with the tri coloured mech who had just saved him. 

Until Skywarp used his name sake ability and he was in the medbay.

XxXxX

Thundercracker and Skywarp hovered. They didn’t come too close, but the occasional glance his way had him uneasy. He was in no condition to defend himself.

One arm was gone, the shoulder joint so badly damaged Hook had to rebuild it, his other arm also useless as Hook opened it up to get the schematics 100% for his new arm.

Starscream was nowhere to be seen though.

He almost felt… worried.

His symbiotes had stopped with their teasing abruptly, too abrupt. Something had happened but no one was telling him anything and he was too drained to use his telepathy to find out what was going on.

XxXxX

Megatron gave him a thorough look over once he was back in one piece and discharged from the medbay.

“Good. Are you battle ready?”

“Affirmative.”

Megatron gave him an intense stare. “I will never admit this to him, but thank Primus he got your aft outta there. If the Autobots had got their servos on you, I would have had to shoot you.”

Soundwave didn’t take it personally. His mind had too much information, valuable and utterly destructive if the Autobots got it.

One thing still nagged him.  
“Location of Seeker Starscream?”

Megatron frowned. “Do you even care?”

Soundwave paused, only for a moment. “Negative.”

Megatron smirked. “Good. Then it is none of your concern.”

For some reason, he felt a chill run up his back strut.

XxXxX

Thundercracker and Skywarp were suffering greatly. They wouldn’t even look at him anymore.

Wings hung low and plating became dull. Optics barely taking anything in.

A quick scan revealed pain and worry. Their thoughts for once clear and straightforward, focused on one thing.

Starscream.

He managed to find out, through constant monitoring of their minds and fields that they didn’t know where Starscream was, what condition he was in and most worryingly, they couldn’t reach him through their Trine bond.

Megatron was not forthcoming with information either and was constantly looking over his shoulder should he even dare to try and search files for a location on the tri-coloured mech.

One evening he found himself frustrated.

Frustrated that he couldn’t figure this out, frustrated that he had no idea what had happened to the mech that had ultimately saved his life.

Ravage watched him closely from his perch on the desk. Red optics glittering with… Hang on… was Ravage amused?

The panther could feel Soundwave’s obvious annoyance and gave a small chuckle.

“You seem to care about Starscream all of a sudden. I just thought it funny. The one mech you would never even considered as worthy of anything and now you can’t stop thinking about him. Pity it took his absence to bring this out, boss.” And with a stretch the cat fromer slithered away into the shadows leaving Soundwave with a processor in turmoil.

XxXxX

What was left of the Command Trine suddenly became dangerous.

Mechs were in and out of the medbay and the names on their busted lips were Skywarp and Thundercracker.

“Go find them and glean everything you can from there puny little processors!” Megatron roared at him, spittle flying everywhere. “This is gone far enough! They are lucky they are useful to me.”

And so he went on the hunt for the mechs that had been hunting him for nearly a year. 

He found them, because his symboits told him where they were, and after a moment of surprise, headed towards his quarters.

They were curled up on his berth, hugging each other. they looked up as he entered.

“Are we really that undesirable?” Skywarp sobbed.

Thundercracker gave a small snarl in Soundwave’s direction. “Where is he?”

Soundwave stood for a moment. He made a decision and removed his mask and visor. “I honestly don’t know.” He answered softly.

Skywarp keened loudly, turning his faceplate into the blue seeker’s chest.

Thundercracker just offlined his optics as if in physical pain. “Please Soundwave. We will stop. We will find someone else. Just, where is he?” Red optics onlined, filling with coolant.

Soundwave felt his spark squeeze painfully at the sight. “I honestly, truly do not know. I had nothing to do with his disappearance. Megatron is not forthcoming with information either.”

Thundercracker gritted his jaw. “Okay.”

Skywarp looked out from Thundercracker’s arms. “But he feels so close! He has to be on the Nemesis! How can _you_ not know?”

The accusation hurt him more than he ever thought it would.


	5. Brewing Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to RevyCaitEll for beta reading!  
> Title: And Seekers Do Seek  
> Chapter: Brewing Trouble  
> Verse: G1  
> Summary: Soundwave ignores the rather hyped up Seekers until he is cornered and a rather unexpected request is made, a request which a negative response is not accepted. Taken from TFanonkink  
> Warnings: Really? You guys knew what you were getting into!  
> Chapter Word Count: 1,565  
> Total Word Count: 8,023 
> 
> Have fun with this one!

If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that Megatron did in fact know where Starscream was. He was too relaxed and smug, and Soundwave feared that Megatron’s current positive moods did not bode well for the Seeker.

Ravage was already on the case. After speaking to the two remaining Seekers of the Command Trine and Megatron’s lax attitude he reasoned that Starscream did in fact have to be nearby. 

Surrounded by ocean he could only be on the sunken ship.

The Nemesis was huge. Many compartments had long ago been abandoned. Starscream was most likely in one of these areas.

Laserbeak hovered near the control room, watching Megatron as the Warlord lounged on his Throne, idly glancing around at the working mecha. Soundwave was amongst them, diligently scrutinizing his monitor. His focus, however, was far from the control room. 

Linked as he was to his symboits, he could access their visual and audio feeds. Ravage was currently stalking through the dark corridors of the forgotten areas, sensors primed for movement, sound, light, a spark signature. 

The twins were busy being themselves, making their presence known in the Rec room via pranking some of the larger mechs and causing quite a stir. Normal behavior for the twins, but this time they had full permission from Soundwave and they were taking full advantage. 

With Laserbeak in his usual perch while not on a mission and the twins in the rec room, Megatron would never see anything amiss. Ravage was always a private mech. He was either with Soundwave or was off doing whatever the cat former did.

Skywarp and Thundercracker, at Soundwave’s request, had made a show about being detained and placed in the brig. There he could watch them and keep them out of trouble. 

What Megatron didn’t know, was that the camera looking into their cell was recording, ready to play a loop on Soundwave’s command. Their cell door was unlocked, com links still active. They paced, sat down, paced. A perfect rhythm, a sequence so that the recording wouldn’t seem different from their usual behavior once it looped.

Everything was set. Now he just needed to find Starscream.

He looked at the Warlord from the side of his hidden optics. To think he was going against the mech he had followed for millennia. Life in the pits had been hard even for he who had never lost a single match until he had met Megatron. The warlord had gone against the ring Masters and spared his life.

Megatron, who had spoken for those without a voice, stood for those who couldn’t stand, fought for those who couldn’t fight.

That Megatron was no more.

He felt bitter pain flare through him. Loyalty had blinded him. Ravage sent reassurance through the link, aware of just how distraught his boss was over his own ignorance. 

Of course, Ravage also sent amusement. :Starscream has you wrapped tight around his finger.:

Soundwave only grumbled in response. 

:More like Warp’s puppy dog eyes!: Rumble cackled into the link.

Echoes of agreement followed in his wake.

:Silence.: Soundwave growled, but his own amusement was clearly felt by all.

His optics flickered to the live feed of the two Seekers.

They had shown him so much the previous night. Of Megatron’s cruelty, not just towards Starscream, but to other mechs in the faction. 

The mech who had saved him had oppressed them, from the very start. 

Starscream had tried to hide everything, even from his own, until Skywarp and Thundercracker had managed to convince him to properly Trine Bond. 

Soundwave had known the Seeker was young but not that young. Barely an adult when Megatron had him sent out to the front lines. 

War had destroyed him.

Soundwave hadn’t met him until he was well integrated into the Decepticon chain of command and by then Starscream’s famous snark was well established. What Skywarp and Thundercracker had shown him of the tri coloured mech from before the war was in complete contrast to the mech he knew. It was a painful reminder of how the lives of his youngest cassettes had also been drastically changed. 

Rumble and Frenzy had him though, to act as a buffer. Starscream was the buffer. 

He promised he would help get Starscream free from wherever he was, promised to get the Seekers off the ship but it was from there that his certainty began to fail. The Seekers were still in heat, they still wanted him, but did he want them?

Ravage must have been following his thoughts as the cat pushed against his awareness :Yes!:

Soundwave frowned. He wouldn’t lie, he felt...a sense of… responsibility for the Seekers, especially now that he had learned some of Starscream’s history, but attraction? Did he want sparklings?

Ravage huffed :How could you not?: 

Soundwave paused. :Ravage, focus on your mission!:

Ravage sent him a very clear memory of Soundwave practically drooling over the Seekers when he had first saw them, then proceed to show him what was quite clearly a figment of the cat’s imagination.

Three little Seekerlings. One had a dark face like Starscream’s, optics bright and round. The sky blue of the tri-coloured mech accented by the darker blue of Soundwave with pristine white wings and chest.

A combined “Awe” swarmed the link.

Oh Primus. Now none of them were going to leave him alone about it.

:And where would we raise them?: His question was met by a sudden silence. :Do you think the Autobots would let two of the highest ranked Decepticons after Megatron himself just…. live with them?:

Laserbeak responded first :Least you have considered it.:

Snickering slowly echoed through his awareness. Soundwave resisted the urge to plant his face into his screen.

XxXxX

:Found him!: Ravage declared loudly a few hours later.

Soundwave nearly jumped out of his seat. He gave a quick glance around, no one was staring at him with funny looks.

He dived into the link, gently entering Ravage’s being.

What he saw made his spark lurch.

Starscream was there all right. He was tied up by his arms, hanging from the wall. His body was covered in wounds. Slashes, burns, stab wounds. His optics were dull, but furious and they were following something just out of the cat’s range of view.

A sneer slid onto dark faceplates. “Try all you want!” He spat, damaged wings vibrating with his anger. “I refuse to open them!”

Open them? Open what? Ravage thought and zoomed in his vision. He scanned the Seeker’s frame. Soundwave realized before he did.

Most of the slashes and scratches were around Starscream’s chest, on the seam where the plates parted to expose his spark. Parts of his cockpit glass were cracked, metal around the glass bent and dented.

Another form stepped into view and Soundwave’s energon ran cold. 

“You will do as ordered. It is illogical to resist. It will only cause you further harm.”

Starscream spat into that single yellow optic.

Shockwave didn’t even flinch. He reached up his hand to clean his optic glass before turning steadily on his heel with a sigh “So be it.”

Shockwave made a show of choosing a tool, his hand hovering over the blowtorch, the laser scalpel. He settled on something Soundwave had never seen before but he could tell that it would cause pain.

He had his back to the Seeker so didn’t notice when red optics lit up in surprise. Starscream’s gaze had found Ravage and he stared in shock as Ravage nodded in silent greeting.

An emotion that was far too alien on Starscream’s face made Soundwave decide on his next course of action.

Shockwave had never known what had hit him. 

Thundercracker let the mech’s limp body fall to the floor as the purple Seeker rushed to release Starscream from his bonds, purple mist swirling around them in the wake of his sudden warp jump.

Ravage leaped forward to clamber up Starscream’s frame, avoiding the damaged areas to nuzzle the Seeker’s face.

Starscream either didn’t care or was too shocked.

“Star!” Skywarp enveloped him in a hug.

Thundercracker grabbed Starscream’s shoulder and looked straight at Ravage perched on the tri-coloured mech’s shoulder.

“What now?”

Soundwave had that already sorted and sent Skywarp coordinates.

Ravage’s end on the link fluttered before steadying as the four of them materialized outside. Soundwave pulled back and took note of the twins. They had already moved and were on their way to the command center. Laserbeak was still perched in his corner.

Ravage could take care of the Seeker’s from there, he knew where to bring them. Now Soundwave had to focus on himself and his remaining cassettes.

He warily eyed Megatron who had his nasal ridge stuck in a datapad. There was a couple of ways he could go about this. He could get Skywarp to warp back in and collect him. He could confront Megatron now and run for it or he could just slip away.

No matter what action he took, though, Megatron would come after them.

He decided on contacting Skywarp.

He quietly exited the command center, letting Laserbeak dock and meeting his twins in the hallway before making his way through the Nemesis to his own quarters.

Barely had he reached his door with his Cassettes when the world spun violently.


	6. Steel Refuge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to RevyCaitEll for beta reading!  
> Title: And Seekers Do Seek  
> Chapter: Just Chillin With Seekers  
> Verse: G1  
> Summary: Soundwave ignores the rather hyped up Seekers until he is cornered and a rather unexpected request is made, a request which a negative response is not accepted. Taken from TFanonkink  
> Warnings: Really? You guys knew what you were getting into!  
> Chapter Word Count: 2,317  
> Total Word Count: 10,340
> 
> AN: I apologize for the supper long wait guys. I have had a really rough few weeks and I am slowly getting back on my feet. I have been writing.... just not posting, wich I am catching up on now. Have fun with this chappie, next one is on the way!

Long experience born of war made his weapon systems engage and charge even as his world spun and his gyros flipped. 

“AH!”

When his systems settled, his gun was leveled at a pale faceplate, Skywarp’s faceplate.

He growled before disengaged his battle protocols. The purple Seeker gave him a sheepish look, shrugging his shoulders.

“Ouch.” Rumble grouched, glaring at the Seeker accusingly.

“A bit o’ warning next time Warp would be good.” Frenzy agreed.

Laserbeak gave a low chirp and a small flap of his wings.

“Starscream: location?”

Skywarp smiled and pointed over his shoulder. “Ravage brought us that way, into an old steel mill.”

Soundwave nodded, relieved. The abandoned mill was large enough to house all of them comfortably and the tape deck could easily set up signal dampeners and cover with the debris and metal left over.

As for energon the factory still had access to power and lots of it. The energon it could produce wouldn’t support an army but their little band; they could fill up and still have spare.

Skywarp led them in through one of the larger service bays. The larger mechs had to duck but Soundwave was already had plans to make some ‘home improvements’. Security systems, hidden entrances, a small bunker. It wouldn’t take Megatron long to go after them and when he did Soundwave had no intentions of going down without a fight.

Thundercracker had wrapped his frame around the smaller tri-colour and Starscream clung back just as tightly. Both looked up as they entered, arms extending out for their third. As the purple frame joined the pile Starscream’s gaze fell to the dark blue mech.

“Soundwave…” He frowned, as if the words were stuck. 

Thundercracker scoffed and gave him a playful swipe over the back of the helm. “What he means Soundwave, is _thank you._ ”

The tape deck nodded as Ravage emerged from the shadows, optics shining with worry and excitement. His thoughts were clear.

 _“I’ll scout around, see what's about that we can use.”_ He nodded towards the twins. _“Care to join me?”_ He made it sound more like an order rather then a question, optics glinting in smugness.

The twins made ‘o’ shapes with their mouth components before nodding with very wide grins. 

“Sure! Let's go!” Rumble answered.

Frenzy gave a small glance towards the final member of their little family. “Beak?”

The bird former rolled his optics and shook his head before taking to the air followed closely by the rest of them.

The three Seekers gave him a look.

Soundwave shrugged in mock confusion. He wasn’t going to tell the Seekers what the Cassettes wanted to happen, cause it wasn’t going to happen, at all.

“So…” Starscream began, looking somewhat uncomfortable and unlike his usual self. “What now?”

“Starscream: needs repairs.”

He received three near identical deadpan looks.

“Soundwave; will protect Trine until they are fit to move on and escape Decepticon attention.”

Deadpan looks held, only optic ridges rising in mock question.

Soundwave released air from his vents loudly. “Soundwave; considering offer.” He finally answered.

Skywarp’s optics lit up with childish glee as he punched the air. Thundercracker was a bit more dignified, face softening into a smile. Starscream’s face, however, just went blank, his optics clouding over with some emotion Soundwave couldn’t recognise.

He removed his visor and mask and nealt down next to the pile of Seekers. “First, before anything else though, I need to secure this place. I have dampeners and other defence systems with me.”

“And a stockpile of goodies over there.” Starscream added with a flick of his wrist pointing to a corner. The tape deck just stared. “I know you scoped this place out and left supplies here. Wasn’t sure what for, but I guess it has come in handy.”

Soundwave nodded. “I estimated that there was…. A chance I would have to use it to escape Megatron someday. He is not the same mech I once knew.” He unsubspaced a field repair kit and handed it to the blue Seeker. “Or if the Autobots were about to win the war, it was a place to lay low for a while.”

Thundercracker nodded as he took the kit and separated himself from the pile. “Right, I’ll work on Starscream. Warp, help Soundwave without getting in his way, will you?” The purple mech pouted before turning his gaze up to Soundwave with a sparkle of mischief.

Oh no.

Thundercracker either didn’t notice or secretly encouraged whatever was going through the younger Seeker’s helm.

“My Cassettes and I have everything covered for the moment if Skywarp wishes to stay with Starscream.” The tri-coloured mech looked up in confusion. “They were very upset at your disappearance.” Soundwave added in explanation.

Instead of reacting like Soundwave though he would Starscream instead looked away and wouldn’t meet the concerned gazes sent in his direction by his trine mates. Soundwave could just about pick up on the small waves of guilt pulsing throughout Starscream’s tightly reined in field.

Thundercracker just gave him a look that said he would explain later before he delicately rubbed a servo between Starscream’s wing joints.

“Come Star, let me see to those wounds.”

Soundwave just nodded before replacing his mask and visor and moving off to set up his gear and secure the mill.

XxXxX

In all honesty he should have known.

He frowned as his Seeker shaped shadow pranced around him. Optics traveled the length of his frame whenever he stretched, a heat filled gaze would cling to his aft whenever he bent over to pick something up.

Skywarp was practically devouring him with his optics. Soundwave could even imagine the drool falling from the Seeker’s lips.

And the twins sat and snickered.

Ravage didn’t help either. He was sending ‘tactical information’ to the younger twins which only made them laugh louder. Tactical information about what exactly Soundwave was having a hard time processing. 

Only Lazerbeak seemed uninterested but only because he was comfortably snuggled under Starscream’s wing while the mech recharged.

Thundercracker had taken vigil over the repairing Seeker, but even his optics glittered with mirth at the antics about him. He would sometimes catch Soundwave’s optic and send him a small smile as he stroked dark faceplates. 

It was when he thought Soundwave wasn’t looking had the the tape deck concerned. Pale faceplates furrowed in concern, in anger, fear. Starscream had obviously told him what had happened and it greatly troubled the blue mech. Soundwave had a fair idea but he would not dare ask. If Starscream told him he would listen, but he would not stick his olfactory sensor where it wasn’t wanted. 

Lost in thought he forgot about the youngest Seeker. Skywarp had snuck up on him and had wrapped his arms around his frame. Soundwave jumped violently much to his chagrin as Skywarp whooped with success.

“Gotcha!”

“Go Warp!” One of the twins cheered as Soundwave struggled to get free but the Seeker had wrapped his entire frame around him, legs and all.

The purple Seeker’s face was suddenly inches from his own and he froze as those red optics calculated the distance.

“Skywarp!” Thundercracker hissed. “Let Soundwave work Warp. It’s for all our safety. And keep it down, you know how he can get when you interrupt his recharge cycle.” He said, indicating to the recharging Seeker.

Skywarp sighed dramatically before releasing his captive and falling to the ground with a metallic clang. Big round optics stared at Soundwave from his pathetically sprawled out form on the floor as he pouted.

Why did Skywarp have to be so cute? Soundwave resisted the urge to pat the young Seeker on the helm.

“I think that’s everything,” Soundwave began, face exposed once more. “I’ll take first watch.”

He was about to leave when a voice stopped him.

“You should stay.” He looked back. Ruby optics glowed from a dark faceplate. “I know your security could see an earth insect entering the area. No Cybertronian could get passed easily. You should rest.”

Lazerbeak thrilled in agreement from beneath his white wing. _“He is so cozy boss. Who knew such a prickly mech could be so cuddly?”_

Soundwave nearly laughed out loud. If Starscream had been privy to that statement the bird former would no longer be in such a ‘cozy’ place.The twins snickered and sent an image of Lazerbeak flying through the air with his aft on fire through the bond. Ravage replied with amusement as Lazerbeak merely shrugged, too content to rise to the bait.

Soundwave was taken aback for a moment. How long had it been since he had felt his cassettes so relaxed? At a time like this, they should be worried. Megatron was surely aware of their disappearance by now. Yet, there they were. Playful. Relaxed. Content.

They didn’t actually think he was going to spark the Seekers...did they?

_“So Boss, who are ya gonna frag first?”_

They totally did. Great.

He blatantly ignored the question and sat down near, but not touching, the two resting Seeker’s.

He settled in to recharge, exhaustion slowly bleeding away from his frame as his systems powered down.

 _Wait,_ he thought groggily, _where was Skywarp sleeping?_

He found that he couldn’t fight recharge even when a warmth surrounded him.

XxXxX

The gentle rumble of engines should have helped him slip into recharge but Starscream found his processors were far too active to properly shut down.

He let his gaze wander over the gathered mechs.

Skywarp had, for all intents and purposes, claimed Soundwave by smothering the poor mech with his frame. The twins sat up, back to back between Soundwave, Skywarp and himself and Thundercracker. Their optics were offline and if Starscream focused his audios he could hear the quiet whir of their small systems.

Thundercracker was curled around his own frame, not too tightly but enough to provide the illusion of security. Starscream found himself raising an optic ridge at the small bird former tucked under his wing.

He resisted the urge to stroke the miniature helm, servo balling into a fist. Just like that his good mood turning sour.

He loved being a Seeker. Loved his wings, his frame, his speed, but Primus did he hate his programming.

His gaze wandered back over to the mech causing him the most grief. 

Soundwave’s face plates were relaxed, mouth slightly quirked in what could pass as a small smile. A rare sight to see indeed, even with all of their shenanigans up to then. He had to admit, at least to himself, Soundwave was far better looking than he ever thought the private mech to be. 

When he wasn’t busy being Megatron’s lap dog, that was.

He felt his lip plates curl in a snarl before he could stop them. Fire burned through his lines at the thought of that mech. He felt himself shiver, Shockwave’s ghostly servo running across his frame in mock reassurance.

_“You should feel privileged our Lord deems you worthy enough to carry his heir.”_

He wanted to smash that single light bulb and feed it to Megatron. The only heir he was going to ever even consider to carry was his own.

If Megatron wanted an heir so bad he should just give it to Shockwave, it couldn't get any uglier that’s for sure. 

_“There is no higher position, that you can obtain, then consort to Lord Megatron.”_

Frag that! Starscream was not going to become anyone’s consort! He hardly even let his Trine mates frag him never mind anyone outside of the Trine!

His optics flickered back to Soundwave.

So why the frag did his programming pick _him?_

Starscream sighed gently, anger bleeding from him. 

At least the other Seekers had also locked on to Soundwave, it meant his coding wasn’t faulty, and it was also highly unlikely he had felt anything he wasn’t aware of for the mech. He still firmly believed it was in fact the Cassettes that the coding had noticed. Soundwave was like a creator figure to them, but also, the Cassettes could act as more support for growing sparklings, less pressure on the adults in such stressful times.

Something akin to a flock he guessed. Not that flocks had existed during his lifetime, but he was aware that it was something primal in Seekers, to always gather in groups.

A loud purring made his systems freeze. 

His optics had been trailing a path down a dark blue frame, what was visible anyway, as he pondered. 

He realized too late, he was not the only one online. 

Ravage was hidden in the shadows, red optics dull in relaxation and amusement. They were watching Starscream keenly. 

Like a deer in the headlights, Starscream’s wings flared and he huffed, turning his helm away, knowing he was caught. No amount of explaining would get him out of it. He wasn’t blind, the Cassettes had been assisting the Seekers much to Soundwave’s embarrassment. They were all for Soundwave making little Seekers with him and his Trine. 

Starscream curled up again, careful not to wake Thundercracker or the little mech under his wing, and initiated recharge. Well, he thought to himself, his programming may want that mech, but he certainly didn’t.

He slipped into darkness, face furrowed, field buzzing with anxious energy.

XxXxX

Ravage lifted his head from his paws. 

Thundercracker shifted, Starscream’s field had to be uncomfortable, even the cat could feel it.

He may not be a telepath but he was certain that Starscream had been checking out his boss with a rather intense gaze. That had to be a good sign… right? Ravage tilted his helm, confused at the sudden recoil of the Seeker, like he had been...ashamed? Disgusted? Ravage frowned… maybe even fearful?

The cat former had good instincts and he was pretty sure it was fear that was preventing Starscream from fully accepting what his programming wanted, but fear of what?

Ravage pondered for a long time, mind running in loops. He wasn’t good with this sort of stuff.

His thoughts were interrupted by a very sudden, very loud scream.


End file.
